Los Angeles Dodgers Tie World Series At 1 Behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Gem
Sometimes in baseball, you witness something that makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a different era. Saturday night in Toronto, Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t just pitch a complete game—he delivered a vintage performance that reminded us why we fell in love with this beautiful, maddening sport in the first place.
The Dodgers bounced back from their Game 1 shellacking with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays, evening the World Series at one game apiece. But this wasn’t just about the final score. This was about watching a master craftsman work his magic on baseball’s biggest stage.
Yamamoto’s Historic Performance Silences Toronto
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the first pitcher since Madison Bumgarner (2014) with 2 CG in a single #Postseason! pic.twitter.com/WpR9Fzfdtw
— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2025
Let’s get one thing straight: complete games in 2025 are about as rare as a unicorn wearing cleats. Pitchers today are babied, managed by pitch counts, and pulled at the first sign of trouble. Not Yamamoto. The Japanese ace laughed in the face of modern baseball convention and threw his second consecutive playoff complete game.
Think about that for a moment. In an era where starters rarely see the eighth inning, this guy has gone the distance twice in his last two playoff starts. The last pitcher to pull off back-to-back complete games in the postseason? Curt Schilling in 2001 with Arizona. That’s 24 years ago, folks.
Yamamoto’s final line was absolutely gorgeous: nine innings, four hits, one earned run, zero walks, and eight strikeouts on 105 pitches. After allowing Toronto’s only run in the third inning on Alejandro Kirk’s sacrifice fly, he was virtually untouchable. The Blue Jays’ offense, which had been crushing pitching all postseason long, looked completely befuddled by his six-pitch arsenal.
The Dodgers’ Offensive Awakening
While Yamamoto was dealing on the mound, his teammates finally provided the run support that was missing in Game 1. Will Smith broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning with a 404-foot bomb to the second deck, his first home run of the postseason. Two batters later, Max Muncy followed suit with another solo shot, effectively ending Kevin Gausman’s night.
The Dodgers tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning against Toronto’s bullpen, giving Yamamoto all the cushion he needed. It was the kind of balanced attack that makes this team so dangerous when they’re clicking on all cylinders.
What This Means For the Series
With the series now tied 1-1 and heading back to Dodger Stadium, the momentum has completely shifted. The Blue Jays came into this World Series riding high after their dominant Game 1 performance, but Yamamoto’s brilliance has reminded everyone why the Dodgers were favored coming into this series.
Game 3 on Monday night (8 p.m. ET) will be crucial. Tyler Glasnow gets the ball for Los Angeles, while Toronto counters with former Dodger Max Scherzer. The next three games at Dodger Stadium could very well determine who hoists the Commissioner’s Trophy.
A Throwback Performance In a Modern Game
What made Yamamoto’s performance so special wasn’t just the statistical dominance—it was the way he carried himself. There was something beautifully old-school about watching him methodically dismantle the Blue Jays lineup, inning after inning, without ever showing signs of fatigue or concern.
In today’s baseball landscape, where every decision is driven by analytics and matchup data, Yamamoto’s complete game felt like a breath of fresh air. Sometimes the best strategy is simply letting your best pitcher do what he does best: pitch.
The Dodgers invested $325 million in Yamamoto before he threw a single pitch in Major League Baseball. Performances like Saturday night remind us exactly why. When the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest, he’s shown he can rise to the occasion.
As this World Series heads back to Los Angeles, one thing is crystal clear: Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn’t just the Dodgers’ ace—he’s quickly becoming one of the most dominant postseason pitchers we’ve seen in years. And if he continues this level of brilliance, the Dodgers might just find themselves celebrating back-to-back championships.
